Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the United Nations

At the GA Plenary on Agenda Item 114 (i)

Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization

Mr. President,

Distinguished Colleagues,

My delegation, it its capacity as the Chairman of the ECO group in New York, has the honour to introduce the draft resolution contained in document A/63/L.39, entitled “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)”, sponsored by the 10 States Members of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), namely, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Mr. Chairman,

The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental regional organization established for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the Member States and stands on the same principles as those that guide the United Nations.

The ECO region is full of bright trading prospects and opportunities. Despite its young age, the lack of appropriate infrastructure and institutions in its region, ECO has developed into a successful regional organization. Today ECO seeks to develop its infrastructure and institutions, on a prioritized basis, that make full use of the available resources in the region. Specifically, ECO has embarked on several projects in priority sectors of its cooperation including energy, trade, transportation, agriculture, and drug control.

In addition Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has established relations and signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with regional and international organizations including the United Nations specialized agencies and international financial institutions. Consequently, ECO’s international stature is growing.

Mr. Chairman,

This draft resolution invites the various specialized agencies , organizations and programmes of the United Nations system , as well as other relevant international financial institutions to join the efforts of ECO towards realizing the shared goals and objectives of the United Nations, and the Economic Cooperation Organization, through regional cooperation, to achieve internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,Â stresses the importance of continuation and the expansion of the areas of cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization, appreciates the technical and financial assistance extended by the UN and its specialized agencies andÂ calls for aÂ further increase ofÂ thisÂ technical assistance ofÂ UN agencies to the Member StatesÂ of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

In conclusion Mr. Chairman, on behalf of all ECO members, I would like to express my deep gratitude to countries who have signed up as co-sponsors of the draft resolution on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the Economic Cooperation Organization” and hope that this draft resolution will be adopted by consensus, as was the previous one during the 61st GA session.